Hamid Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai inaugurated parliament on Wednesday, ending weeks of political infighting, but took a dig at the West in his opening remarks, saying 'foreign interference' had been a 'serious problem'.
Karzai, who has already accused Western powers of meddling in a fraud-ridden presidential poll that saw him re-elected in 2009, said foreign interference in last year's parliamentary vote had led to a less transparent election.
"During the election process we faced serious problems in protecting people's votes, preventing fraud, and from the interference of foreigners," Karzai said in his opening speech to members of the assembly shortly before they were sworn in. "We must 'Afghanise' government institutions and the elections. Undoubtedly, elections convened by the Afghans will be more transparent, less expensive," he said.
Afghanistan's government was plunged into political crisis last week after Karzai decided to delay the opening of the new parliament by a month to allow a special poll court he established time to investigate fraud in the Sept. 18 election.
Washington is pressing Karzai to demonstrate good governance as it looks to withdraw US forces from an unpopular war now in its tenth year, and the latest showdown renewed concern about the president's credibility as an ally. Under huge pressure from winning candidates, who threatened to take their seats in parliament this month with or without him, and in the face of criticism from the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society and countries supporting Afghanistan with troops and cash, Karzai backed down and agreed to a Wednesday inauguration.
Western nations were then quick to applaud the compromise and called the inauguration a "big day" for Afghanistan, but the United States said it would "closely monitor" developments. Karzai's relations with the West have often been rocky and tension came to a head last year when he accused Western countries of carrying out fraud in a presidential poll in order to install an ineffective government.
Karzai's comments on Wednesday appeared to be sparked off by criticism over his creation of a special election tribunal, the legality of which has been questioned by diplomats and rights groups who have warned of a bigger battle ahead. Karzai is thought to be unhappy with the new parliament's make-up, which although not necessarily united, has yielded a more vocal and coherent opposition bloc to challenge him.
"The special court is key. I think we can expect to see the president using what he says are legal powers to try and remove some parliamentarians," said a senior Western diplomat. "We are not over this. He will try to do something, if only to weaken legitimacy of parliament," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
Although parliamentarians may claim Karzai's climb-down as a victory, the president emerged from the tussle with his special court intact. Members of parliament also say it is illegal and want it dissolved. The tribunal claims the power to unseat any candidate incriminated in vote-rigging, and in an election tainted by widespread corruption, few beat feet without allegations -- whether valid or not -- against them.
While the West has acknowledged there was fraud in the poll they had pushed for the assembly to convene quickly and want Karzai's government to focus on improving security and governance with an emboldened insurgency now at its most violent. NATO, which leads a force of 150,000 in Afghanistan, also called this week for a "timely opening of parliament" if it were to start handing over security responsibilities to Afghan forces in February or March. Karzai wants his forces to take the lead in securing the whole country by the end of 2014, an ambitious plan, but one endorsed by the international community.